Using Groups

You can group collections of components on your canvas, drawing a box with a colored background around the selected components. You can collapse the contents of a group to a single icon on the canvas. Groups are a visual tool that can help you edit more efficiently, but they do not affect the functionality of your application.

To create a group:

  1. Select any group of one or more components. For example, hold down your left mouse button and draw a box around the components of interest. Or hold down the Ctrl key while selecting the components of interest.

  2. Right-click in any part of the selection, and choose Create Group. A translucent box is created over the selected components.

  3. Edit the group's properties in the Properties view:

    Name

    Enter the group title that you want displayed in the EventFlow.

    Description

    Enter your text in the Description field. The field preserves line breaks, and can render the following HTML tags: b, p, and br.

When you first create a group or select an existing group, its Properties view opens. You can define a name, set the background color, and add a description for the selected group.

You can select the components inside a group independently of the group. Select the group itself by clicking its title bar or any non-component space inside the group.

Here are some useful things you can do with groups:

  • Move all its components around the canvas together: select and drag the group to move it.

  • Collapse the group to hide its components: click the group's minimize button. To restore the minimized group window, click the + restore button.

  • View the source code of all the group components together: select the group, right-click the group and select View Source from the context menu.

  • Add components to a group:

    1. Select one or more components outside the group.

    2. Begin to drag the selection into the group window.

    3. Press and hold the Shift key while you finish dragging the components into the group window.

    4. Release the Shift key.

  • Delete the group without deleting the components in the group: select the group by clicking its title bar, then press the Delete key.